


Ring toss

by keeptheearthbelow



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Gen, Language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-27
Updated: 2013-03-27
Packaged: 2017-12-06 15:55:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/737474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keeptheearthbelow/pseuds/keeptheearthbelow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt: Modern Locations: Fair. Peeta makes a speech. Gale's less admirable side is on display. Katniss hits all the targets she's aiming for, plus one.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ring toss

Can you guys hear me? Okay. Hello everyone. My name is Peeta Mellark. I'm the groom, for those of you who haven't met me before. I know this whole thing has been kind of a whirlwind and I can't tell you how much I appreciate you all coming to celebrate with us as Katniss and I start our life together. We're really excited for tomorrow. This being the rehearsal dinner, I guess I'm supposed to make a toast. Here it is.

I was head over heels for Katniss the day I met her. I mean I was a goner. And I'm gonna tell you how it happened, because a couple people have asked me to tell the story here, and also because I know Katniss tells it wrong. She's too modest to tell it right. She says, “We met at a fair and hit it off.” So, beautiful, cover your ears or have another drink or something. 

Last summer I was working part time as a carny at the county fair. Oh excellent, you're thinking, he's real marriage material. Don't worry, this is the story of how I got fired.

I'm working this row of booths that's all the games of skill that require aim. You know, the little basketballs, the ring toss, the rifle range. Balloons and darts. You get the picture. So we've got a busy enough evening going on. I'm there handing a goldfish in a baggie to some kid when I notice this girl. Gorgeous. And she's on the arm of Tall, Dark, and Handsome, and he's putting in a decent performance at the rifle range, like halfway through one of those sets of twelve games for the price of ten or whatever. They've already got a mini stuffed animal sitting on the counter there and he's going for more. I couldn't stop staring at her, and of course I'm already a carny so now I'm just going for total creep, apparently. 

But I notice, while I'm selling other people tokens and whatnot, that she is pissed, and so is Tall, Dark, and Persistent there. They've got some friends with them who are getting antsy and wanting to go ride the Vomitron again or something. So I think that must be what's bugging her, until I hear her ask at least twice for a turn at the game. But the friends are all, “No, let him show you what he's got,” and Tall, Dark, and Macho is all, “No, you said you wanted that bear and I'm getting you that fucking bear.” 

Gran, I'm sorry. Yes, I've had something to drink. You can cuss too if you want. Damn straight.

Okay. So we all know these games are rigged. I mean, the things are perfectly shaped to have the rings bounce off them the right percentage of the time, and the basketballs are too big for the hoops. They can be, like, un-rigged, but they're very precisely calibrated. And Tall, Dark, and Cocky is honestly not a bad shot, I promise you. But I'm watching this lovely girl who I realize is not just annoyed but unimpressed. I'd been at this stupid summer job long enough to recognize some indicator, I don't even know if I can explain what, about people who're likely to be good shots. I'm an art student, what the fuck do I know, it has something to do with their posture and how they study what's in front of them. So I sidle up after helping the next customer and I tell her, “First round's on the house.”

She jumps at it. Puts down her ice cream. Grabs one of the fake shotguns and nails every single one of those pop-up birds. No, dude, that's not what got me fired. I hand her another token. She does it again. Tall, Dark, and Shown Up is looking at her. She says to him, “I told you I know how to shoot.” Then she glares at me — and I think, oh hell, don't involve me — but she hands me a five and points at the next game over.

Ladies and gentlemen, Miss Katniss Everdeen proceeds to beat the house on the rifle range, the basketballs, the rings, the darts, everything. She's attracting an audience. They cheer for her. She acts like they're not even there, but she has this fierce glee about her. They're getting their phones out. The videos are still on Youtube, I think. Tall, Dark, and Outgunned is getting absolutely eaten alive by his friends back there. He tries to tell her, okay, you made your point, and she just ignores him. He's like, hey, your ice cream is melting, and she says, “Then you fucking eat it if that bothers you.” Doesn't even look away from the darts. She runs out of games to smash in that direction and starts back along the row of booths again. 

At this point the manager discovers that his system has been broken and he leaves Finnick up front there and drags me to the back. And he wants to know if I'm the one who's letting her keep playing. And I said, yeah, and it's fucking awesome, and have you seen the crowd out there? And he says, “Go shut her down. She can keep her goldfish. She's done.” I say no. He says, “You're fired. And you think I don't know how to pull a switch on somebody? Crowds love that too. How the mighty fall.” I say, “No, no, never mind, I'll do it.” He says, “Fine, go shut her down. You're still fired.”

So I go back out there like nothing's wrong, and my mind is spinning, and fortunately she has just finished nailing the rings again and Finnick is handing her yet another stuffed animal for her haul. So I announce, “Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, here we have her, the shot heard round the world, the best aim on the planet, the huntress of Panem County! You've showed us all how it's done. Miss, let me take down your name and contact info so I can arrange to have our grand prize sent to you. Everybody else, step right up and take your turn!”

Smooth, right? Still not sure where that came from, but it's in the cellphone videos. I had nothing to lose. But even if she saw through that or wasn't interested? She's amazing, and there was no way I was treating her any other way. You are amazing, Katniss, and I'm the luckiest guy alive and I hope I'll let you know that every day for the rest of my life.

What? Finish the story? Oh. Well, I couldn't send her nothing after all that, so what I sent to her was the best cake we make at the family bakery, and written on it, “There is no prize from the fair. I'm sorry. But may I take you to dinner?” Stop laughing. I can write really small on cakes. She took me up on it! I learned that she'd had a bad day way before Tall, Dark, and Not A Good Blind Date, and winning her own giant polar bear pretty much made her week, and I was too embarrassed to tell her I'd gotten myself fired over it. I didn't tell her till after we were engaged, actually. Yeah, I know, that was practically the next day. 

Folks, that brings us up to the present. If you want to place bets on the distance at which Katniss can toss a ring onto my finger, we have bookies standing by, and let me tell you, this game isn't rigged. Thank you all for being here, have fun, see you tomorrow.


End file.
